19
votes
Accepted
How was an OED page made available free of charge?
That would be my comment, so let me explain.
Every single day, the OED has a new Word of the Day that it makes free to the world. Eventually, the whole OED will be free ;)
And in case anyone is ...
LaurelMod
- 65k
11
votes
Accepted
What sort of resource request questions do we accept on meta?
Requests for resources that help the community in doing research for better questions and answers should be on-topic on ELU meta.
This actually goes against our established SE policy that meta should ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
9
votes
Internet resources to research frequency of usage of a word
It is not entirely clear from your question whether your problem with using Google Ngrams is that the data is not recent enough or that it is based on formal writing (books only), or both. But there ...
- 865
9
votes
Accepted
Is this Folk-Etymology Dictionary a reliable source?
I find Smythe Palmer’s dictionary almost impossible to use, in part because he presents the argument for a folk etymology in a deadpan way and only occasionally points out a fundamental flaw in that ...
- 161k
8
votes
How should the new Lexico-hosted Oxford dictionary be cited?
I would suggest we use the name they would prefer, that is Lexico.
However, I would advise against editing old posts just to rename the previous citations.
I previously used ODO or Oxford ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
7
votes
Accepted
How do I avoid asking about mondegreens?
I think this kind of situation is rare enough that you don't have to take special steps to avoid it. You can just let people tell you about it in the comments. Once you learn that the question is ...
- 80.3k
6
votes
Usage of computer terms?
If you are trying to get a sense of the relative frequency over time of two or more alternative spellings, you may be interested in the Google Ngram tool, which reports on the frequency, year-by-year, ...
- 161k
6
votes
Accepted
What resources do I need to consult before asking a question?
Asking questions
Many questions can be easily answered by searching for a word, phrase, or idiom in a free online dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, and even some grammar questions (such as which ...
LaurelMod
- 65k
5
votes
Accepted
Dictionary that provides all correct usages of words
Short answer:
No, there's no perfectly correct dictionary, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) will probably get you what you want.
Longer answer:
There are a number of issues you bring up.
'...
- 70.8k
5
votes
Best online slang dictionary for old slang
Green's Dictionary of Slang is a highly regarded and well-curated dictionary that I would feel safe calling "the best online slang dictionary" in a holistic sense. The website is easy to use, and ...
- 22.3k
5
votes
Accepted
How to find uncommon synonyms
The meaning of the question seems clear to me (I say this as there seems to be some confusion in the comments): get all synonyms of the word in question, and return the ones that are least commonly ...
- 23.1k
5
votes
Where can I ask for free proofreading?
I have a few very reliable sources.
Paper Rater
Grammar Check
Spell Check Plus
Polish My Writing
and finally
Online Correction
- 910
5
votes
Internet resources to research frequency of usage of a word
Generally speaking, yes, resources do exist for researching historical word frequency (including contemporary frequency). Here, frequency is defined as
The number of times an event or character ...
- 32.7k
5
votes
Where does it say that resources are off-topic on main?
Form the help centre's What types of questions should I avoid asking? page (I quoted only the relevant parts):
What types of questions should I avoid asking?
To prevent your question from being ...
- 7,148
5
votes
Where does it say that resources are off-topic on main?
Resource requests are "shopping list" questions, and are inherently unsuitable for all SE sites, not just EL&U. The reasons why are discussed on Meta and in a blog post by Jeff Atwood.
Summary ...
- 1,352
5
votes
Where does it say that resources are off-topic on main?
The on-topic help page says what questions are welcome:
Questions on the following topics are welcomed here:
• Word choice and usage
• Grammar
• Etymology (history of words’ development)
• Dialect ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 101k
5
votes
Usage of computer terms?
There are a few starting points if you're making a decision about the usage of computer terms.
The Microsoft Writing Style Guide (formerly the Microsoft Manual of Style), which they pitch to people ...
- 39.4k
5
votes
Using internet search engines (Google/Yahoo) 'News' results to count frequency of a word
I've collated sites from the comments, and added one more. It's not clear to me how many of these include actual word-frequency counts.
Elephind: Search the world's historical newspaper archives.
...
- 37.9k
5
votes
Resources for finding early uses of words?
EL&U Meta's very own community-wiki-based question What good reference works on English are available? includes an answer headed "Historical Resources" that consists of sections devoted ...
- 161k
5
votes
What are the free resources to learn english online?
This answer is more relevant to English Language Learners and indeed it's well answered with lots of resources in the Meta on that site: Resources for learning English. Some of the resources mentioned ...
Andrew LeachMod
- 101k
5
votes
Accepted
How does one assess the authoritativeness of a dictionary?
OED is the best ever, and you probably have free access to it somehow (but you may have to look for it).
You can assess quality systematically by choosing some set of characteristics that are ...
- 70.8k
4
votes
Accepted
How can you search pronunciations of words on Youtube?
https://youglish.com/search/eczema
I remember the site because I once asked a question about the different pronunciations of eczema and @Atai Voltaire posted an answer that had a link to the site.
...
- 90.3k
4
votes
Where can I ask for free proofreading?
Lang-8.com is a good volunteer-based proofreading portal.
It works on the principle of reciprocity: you proofread a guy or gal's posts in your language, they proofread writing in theirs. ...
- 3,640
4
votes
Would a question about a specific English language tool be on topic?
This seems like a reference or resource request. We don't allow them on the main site, but we do answer them here (i.e. english.meta). Just tag your quesiton resources
- 29.1k
3
votes
How was an OED page made available free of charge?
It's not possible for the most part.
Sometimes OED allows its pages to be seen for free. But if you invoke the same link another time you are likely to find that access requires a subscription.
There ...
NVZMod
- 22.6k
3
votes
Where can I ask for free proofreading?
You might try
englishforums.com
You'll need to create a free account. Click on "Forums", the rightmost item in the main menu and scroll down to
Essay, Report & Composition Writing
where you ...
- 44.5k
3
votes
Where can I ask for free proofreading?
Give Typely a try. It is a free proofreading application that you can use right away. It has been featured on the frontpage of many news aggregators and is already stable and strong.
Our main focus ...
- 101
3
votes
Usage of computer terms?
Sometimes you can learn about the usage of technical terms by Googling them. For example, you'll find that "checkbox" has more hits than "check box." Since you're asking for a specific resource, I ...
- 863
3
votes
Usage of computer terms?
You might want to consider a dictionary that's carefully curated and recent. The more recent it is the more likely newer terms will be listed and updated usage is covered. Careful curation is ...
- 7,148
3
votes
Is there a service to find out if my phrase is used online like corpora, but not exactly?
Google is usually my go to source for finding examples of specific expressions. You can enclose your expression in double quotes and it will make it match it verbatim. (Google Search’s number of hits ...
LaurelMod
- 65k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible